As thousands died on WWI’s Western Front, a young officer by the name of T E Lawrence was among those fighting a very different war in the Middle East. Here, Nicholas Saunders reveals how a British-backed uprising proved a turning point in history.
AlUla is an oasis town in north- western Saudi Arabia with a deep historic past as a major stepping stone for the traders who brought frankincense and myrrh north into Egypt and the Levant.
Recent research at two mustatils (prehistoric rectangular open-air structures found across northern Arabia) is uncovering new information about the ritual practices that may have been taking place in the region in the late 6th millennium BC. First identified in the…
The mountain of Jabal Ikmah, located 5km north of the ancient city of AlUla in north-west Saudi Arabia, has just been added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which recognises documentary heritage of international significance. This is a significant…
‘It looks like cattle, goats, and gazelles were brought to the site, potentially slaughtered there and then presented to what is probably a stone representation of an unknown deity.'
These monumental structures, termed 'kites', consist of low stone walls that stretch hundreds of metres and lead to an enclosure, in which gazelles and other game could have been trapped.
Saudi Arabia is a paradise for researching engraved rock art (see ‘Saudi Arabian rock art’ in CWA 102). In March 2022, I returned to the Saudi provinces of Najran and ‘Asir. In the latter, the exploration of Wadi al-Khayyur, located…
‘Neolithic communities repeatedly returned to the Camel Site, meaning its symbolism and function was maintained over many generations’
The latest stories in archaeology from around the world, including the discovery of the oldest monumental landscape, new evidence of early human behaviour in South Africa, and the analysis of the Shigir Idol.
At the excavated mustatil, archaeologists uncovered an assemblage of cattle horns and skull fragments interpreted as an offering, perhaps related to a ‘cattle cult’, further supporting the ‘ritual’ interpretation of these sites.
In the largest study of north-western Arabia’s mustatil to date, archaeologists have recorded more than 1,000 of the enigmatic rectangular structures across 200,000km2 of land, shedding light on one of the oldest widespread monument-building traditions. These prehistoric structures take their…
The discovery of cattle horns and skull fragments during the excavation has been interpreted as an apparent offering, and as confirmation that the structures were built for a ritual, cultic, or religious purpose.
Footprints in the desert The earliest-known human footprints from the Arabian Peninsula have been discovered in an ancient lake deposit in the south-west of the Nefud Desert. They were discovered as part of the Palaeodeserts Project, which is studying the…
The footprints were discovered as part of the Palaeodeserts Project, which is examining climate change and human evolution in Saudi Arabia.